[Peace-discuss] India and the Somali pirates

[Ricky Baldwin]

So NPR is repeating today that the Indian Navy has claimed
victory in a reported “sea battle” with Somali pirates and even sank one of the
pirates’ “mother ships.”  A US Naval
College professor interviewed this morning told Daniel Schorr that piracy had
now become a major threat to the world’s energy resources.  Presumably the professor was referring specifically
to sea piracy – he didn’t mention the big corporate land pirates – and in fact
the interview never brought up any pirates other than Somali ones.  


They discussed some Saudi tankers recently
seized or threatened by the former Somali fishermen.  Again, the context was decidedly not the
potential right of the inhabitants to control or benefit from the resources of
their lands – we’re against that, aren’t we? – but the threat to rich people’s
profits derived from said resources.
 
Reminds me of a story that Noam Chomsky attributes to St. Augustine, I believe.  Alexander "the Great" it seems once captured a
rather mouthy pirate.  Alexander: Who are
you to molest the seas?  Pirate: Who are
you to molest the whole world?  I have
one ship, and you call me a pirate.  You
have a whole navy, and they call you emperor.
 
Not that India is the biggest emperor in the picture these days – that would be us.  India has been in the news a lot
lately, as have Somali pirates.  India even
landed a probe on the moon earlier this month.  The pirates haven’t managed any moon shots yet, as far as I know.  
 
But the Horn of Africa is one of those regions where Washington thinkers and
oil company executives like to play Risk.  After all, the Persian Gulf is right
there.  (We didn’t think all that Black
Hawk stuff in Mogadishu was really about 'humanitarian' concerns, did we?)  And ever since the implosion of the USSR, India has been a lot more amenable
to US scheming.  A lot more.  


The rise of the Hindu Nationalists probably
hasn’t hurt, either.  The Indian
government has had its own conflicts with Islamic populations at home and
abroad for many years, complete with suicide bombings and military deployments,
even a nuclear arms race with Pakistan.  According to international opinion polls
after the World Trade Center attacks, India was the only country that ranked higher
than the US in saying “war is the answer.”  And so on.


But I'm certainly no expert on the region (or anything else).  Anybody else have insights on this?

Ricky

"Every time you think, you weaken the nation." - Moe Howard



      
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